Also, commissioners hear SweetBay details

By ZACK McDONALD / The News Herald

Published: Tuesday, May 14, 2013 at 10:38 PM.

Lloyd said the best alternative within the city would be St. Andrews for practical purposes.

“Part of our heritage here is fishing,” said Mayor Greg Brudnicki. “To say we can’t have an ice machine look good or baffle the noise right next to the high speed gas pumps of St. Andrews just doesn’t make sense.”

SweetBay

The development of 3,200 homes and 700,000-square-feet of commercial space on the old airport property came later and was much less emotional. Commissioners heard resolutions initiating the development SweetBay, the largest mixed use community in the city to date.

St. Andrew Bay Land Co. purchased the 704-acre property in February 2011 for $51.4 million from the airport authority and representatives said the company is ready to put shovels in the ground.

“The interest clock has been ticking and we are ready to build homes,” said William Harrison, lawyer. “With these items we would be able to begin construction in June or July.”

PANAMA CITY — City commissioners heard details of a proposal to build the largest commercial and residential development in the city’s history Tuesday night.

However, most of the people who filled nearly every seat in the City Hall meeting room came to talk about the ice house.

The city had put off a vote to relocate the ice house currently occupying the downtown marina for three separate meetings. The project costing $86,000 would place the 41-by-74-foot Ice Systems International ice house on the St. Andrews marina. Commissioners heard heated comments for and against the move before approving the measure 4-1.

Commissioner Mike Nichols, representative of the St. Andrews ward, was the sole dissenting vote.

“Downtown is moving it because they want a good view; they want a good, family oriented area,” Nichols said. “St. Andrews does too. Without taking away from our commercial fishermen, I thought could we put it at another location.”

Commercial fishermen, owners of the ice house and marina management argued before commissioners the move would need to be acceptable to keep an almost $125,000 economic impact to Panama City.

“If we lose the ice house from our area, St. Andrews is in serious financial difficulty,” said Bill Lloyd, marina manager.

Fishermen had concerns of families being uprooted to follow the ice – a necessity to maintain a fishing business.

“You can’t fish without it,” said Sean Keitges, fisherman. “I’ve got a wife and son and we enjoy that area. … Without [ice] we’re pretty much going to be driven out of that area.”

Business owners and residents from St. Andrews argued the location needed to be rethought because the ice house would negatively affect the area’s draw of tourism.

“We’re not against [the ice house]; we’re against the location,” said Loren Smith, Shrimp Boat owner. “It has functioned outside of St. Andrews for years and we just want the opportunity for the commission to have some time to study this.”

Smith added: “We’ve got a lot invested,” he said. “… We don’t want to trample on the fishing industry, we just think there is a solution in the middle.”

Commissioners postponed a vote for nearly two months before Tuesday’s vote because of concerns about noise and aesthetics of the ice house. Though commissioners could have opted to table the vote again, timetables for the Marina Development Project also is an issue.

“We’ve had numerous public hearings on this now,” said Commissioner John Kady. “What would you think if this commission approved something for your business and at the last minute pulled the rug out from under you?”

Lloyd said the best alternative within the city would be St. Andrews for practical purposes.

“Part of our heritage here is fishing,” said Mayor Greg Brudnicki. “To say we can’t have an ice machine look good or baffle the noise right next to the high speed gas pumps of St. Andrews just doesn’t make sense.”

SweetBay

The development of 3,200 homes and 700,000-square-feet of commercial space on the old airport property came later and was much less emotional. Commissioners heard resolutions initiating the development SweetBay, the largest mixed use community in the city to date.

St. Andrew Bay Land Co. purchased the 704-acre property in February 2011 for $51.4 million from the airport authority and representatives said the company is ready to put shovels in the ground.

“The interest clock has been ticking and we are ready to build homes,” said William Harrison, lawyer. “With these items we would be able to begin construction in June or July.”

Once infrastructure construction is finished the company will build about 70 homes each year. The first phase of the project will be Academy Park, developed on 66 acres near the former airport terminal for 274 homes.

“We’re talking about putting a major development within the city limits,” Brudnicki said. “This is a big deal for Panama City.”

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